


When Sleep Won't Come Easy

by ahappyskeleton



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-03 22:01:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5308559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahappyskeleton/pseuds/ahappyskeleton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico Di Angelo, a student at a prestigious military academy, finds his world flipped upside down when he's sent on an exchange program to a public school in Seattle, where he meets Will Solace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys,  
> This is my first piece of fanfiction and I'm really excited to be sharing it with you.  
> Will Solace is not a part of this chapter, but give it time. I promise he'll be in the next one.  
> I think the majority of this story will be written in Nico's perspective, but I may change my mind.  
> Also, feel free to leave a comment, like, and subscribe!  
> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to Rick Riordan. The story is mine, however.

“Nico, have you seen my uniform?”

Nico let out a huge groan, reluctantly beginning to look around their dorm. It was hard to find anything when you lived in a constant mess. Keeping things clean was out of the question, especially when you had a roommate as sloppy as Percy Jackson.

Nico began picking up pairs of Percy’s boxers off the floor, wrinkling his nose. “Isn't this like the fifth time you've lost it this month?”

“Seriously, Nico, this isn’t funny. I’m going to be late for English lit.” came Percy’s reply, sounding slightly muffled under his upturned mattress. As if he would find it there.

Uniforms were a mandatory item at Nico’s school, a prestigious military academy where kids were sent to learn the necessities of survival, or, in other words, where Nico’s father had sent him when he had come to the conclusion that Nico was a hopeless basket case and no longer wished to take care of him.

“Have you looked under the laundry hamper?” Nico asked. That was where it had been last time.

Percy stopped searching for a moment just to give Nico a confused look. “Why would it be under the—? …never mind.”

He came out a second later, grinning sheepishly at Nico, his very wrinkled uniform on. “Have I ever told you how great of a friend you are?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Have you ever heard of this thing called ironing?”

 

“I hate Mondays.” A sleepy Jason Grace complained on their way to French class.

Percy had run off a few minutes ago, saying he’d meet up with them for Social Studies, the only class that Nico had with all his friends. The rest of his classes he had with either Jason or Percy and on the worst of days, both. Jason and Percy mostly just argued when they were together, so Nico preferred spending time with them one on one if he had to at all.

“Because no combat class?” Nico asked, knowingly.

“Because no combat class.” Jason agreed.

 

The day went by in a blur, Nico not really paying attention as Jason talked his ear off about the latest episode of Once Upon A Time, and then as Percy started getting worked up about an arm wrestle he’d lost against Jason.

“God, it’s just so unfair. He probably came out of the womb with a perfect six pack.” He grumbled.

That put a small smile on Nico’s face.

 

The evening was always Nico’s favourite part of the day, when all of Nico’s friends would break the rules and gather in Nico and Percy’s tiny dorm room, talking.

The dorms were not coed, but that had never stopped Piper and Annabeth from joining up with the boys.

“The trust the school board has for us is so old fashioned. It’s not like we’re incapable of controlling ourselves or anything.” Piper had said once after a few too many shots of tequila, before turning her head to make out with Jason. That had made a very tipsy Annabeth giggle uncontrollably.

Now, Nico, Percy, Jason, Leo, Annabeth, and Piper were sitting cross legged in a circle on the floor, between Nico and Percy’s twin sized beds, passing around a bottle of whiskey Nico had swiped.

“Hey, Percy, pass the whiskey.” Leo shouted.

Nico put a hand over Leo’s mouth to shut him up. If they got caught, they would surely be kicked out. Not only were they underage, but alcohol was strictly prohibited at their school. Not to mention the fact that they weren’t allowed to have guests in their dorm room, especially girls. And they were from a boarding school. A military boarding school. Nico hated to think of the consequences.

Percy took a giant swig of the bottle of whiskey before leaning over Nico to hand it to Leo. Leo gave Percy a salute and grinned like an idiot.

“You want some?” he asked Nico, wiping the excess whiskey off his mouth with the back of his hand. Nico shook his head. He always refused. He’d seen how drunk his friends got and figured they needed someone to supervise them in case they decided to run into traffic or do something stupid like that. Ironically enough, Nico was the youngest of the group.

“Guys, I hate Mrs. Hillington.” Percy groaned, leaning into Annabeth who was playing with his hair. “She totally has it out for me. Today, she gave me a C on my paper on Underwater Aquatics and when I asked her why, she said it wasn’t actually a sport.”

Jason snorted. “It’s not.”

Percy glared out at him. “Shut up, Grace.”

“Guys, I don’t see what your problem is with Mrs. Hillington.” Leo said. “I think she’s pretty hot.”

Annabeth made an exaggerated disgusted choking sound that came out sounding suspiciously like a chortle. “Okay, first off, ew, she’s married, Leo, what’s wrong with you? And secondly, you don’t actually have her as an English teacher. Percy’s more in a position to judge her given that he’s the only one of us who has her as a teacher.”

Percy gave her an affectionate kiss on the cheek.

Oh Annabeth, always the peace keeper.

Nico’s laptop lit up suddenly and he stood up clumsily to grab it. “Gotta go.”

Piper cocked an eyebrow. “Hazel?”

He nodded in her direction and ran to the closet. Nico always went into the closet when he Skyped with Hazel. It was a little claustrophobic, but it was the only place he could get any privacy. Hazel was Nico’s younger half-sister, mediator, and best friend. She was always looking out for him. Unfortunately, that meant frequent Skyping, but he didn’t mind so much. He liked talking to Hazel. She lived with his parents, much to Nico’s distaste, and went to a public school in Seattle, so he never got to see her face to face, but they always made sure to stay in touch over Skype.

“You have to stop worrying about me.” He’d said to her multiple times.

“I’m your sister. It’s my job to worry about you.” was always her reply.

Now, she beamed at him through the laptop screen. “Nico! Hi!”

Her curly brown hair was shorter than when he’d last talked to her about a week ago. It hung just below her chin, framing her face nicely.

“I like your hair.” He said, smiling gently at her.

That made her beam even wider, making her dimple ten times more noticeable.

“Do you?” she exclaimed. “I was debating whether to cut it or not. I’m glad I did though. I guess I was tired of long, uncontrollable hair. It’s slightly easier to manage now.”

“Well, it looks good.”

“Thanks!” then she frowned. “Hey, sorry I haven’t really been able to Skype. Things have been really busy at school. Everyone’s kind of freaking out about next week’s dance.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Nico gave a reassuring smile. “How’s Frank?”

Frank was Hazel’s boyfriend. He was a tall, Asian boy with a kind demeanor. He and Hazel were perfect together.

“Frank’s good I think. He’s in Canada right now visiting his family.” She wrinkled her nose. “I haven’t been able to talk him, but he says he’ll be back on time to take me to the dance.”

At military school, they didn’t have dances. It was considered ‘unnecessary’. Nico never really understood what the hype was, but Hazel was always excited by the prospect of a dance and he didn’t want to ruin that, so he kept his opinions to himself. Instead, he just nodded.

“Nico?” Hazel’s expression had darkened when he looked back at the screen, which was worrying. Hazel was one of the most positive people he knew. It would take something serious to make Hazel’s usual smile disappear.

“Hazel?” He said it more uneasily than he meant to.

Hazel took a deep breath before blurting out; “Dad wants you to come home.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Nico…”

“You can tell him no.”

“but—”

“I have to go.”

“Are you going to smoke?”

“No.”

“Nico.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Okay… I love you, Nico.”

“I love you too.”

Then he closed the laptop and left the dorm, his hands never leaving the weed in his pocket.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so Will is not in this chapter like I said he would be, but some stuff has shifted a lot from my original plan. I promise he'll be in the next one. I can't promise how much he'll be in the next one, but this is a solangelo fic and there will be solangelo.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. All rights go to Rick Riordan, but the story is mine.

Sleep didn’t come easy for Nico that night. It rarely did. He found himself lying awake in bed, thinking about what Hazel had said.

“Dad wants you to come home.”

Just those words alone had made Nico’s heart beat faster and all the anxiety and anger and sadness he had left in him rush up to his chest, dangerously close to exploding. If he hadn’t closed the laptop, he hated to think of what Hazel would have witnessed.

He and his father were not on good terms. Nico had always went out of his way to piss off his father. When he turned thirteen, he started stealing from the liquor cabinet, then, at fourteen, he started smoking weed. At fifteen, he decided that school didn’t matter and stopped trying. At sixteen, he started shoplifting.

However, much to Nico’s frustration, his father continued to keep his usual, stubborn composure.

…until the tattoo.

It was the tattoo that really set him off. A big tattoo of an ugly sort of bull dog that took up most of Nico's right arm. He got it a few months before his seventeenth birthday. When Nico walked into the house with that tattoo, it was the last straw. His father flipped the fuck out, calling him a delinquent, telling him he was no longer his son.

Then, just like that, he sent Nico away with a suitcase.

That was how he got to military school. The most terrifying school there is. A school where combat class was considered more important than Math class, and where computer hacking was considered more knowledgeable than English.

On Mondays, they had their academic classes; Math, Science, English, French, and Social Studies, but the rest of the week, they had classes like…

Computer Hacking: A class where you learned how to break into top secret databases and other people’s important files and such.

Weapons Class: A class where you were taught how to use all the newest and oldest equipment, from the sling shot, to the M16.

And Nico’s personal favourite…

Combat Class: A class where you were led through a series of brutal self defense drills. Basically a class where you were given full permission to beat the shit out of your classmates.

So military academy wasn’t the worst thing his father could have put him through. Nico quite liked it actually. Not only was he learning how to steal from various places using the techniques he was learning from his school without notice, but he actually had friends. Real friends that he enjoyed spending time with. Nobody, not even his father, would take that away from him. No, Nico would not be coming home.

“Hey, man, are you okay?”

Nico’s head shot up in surprise to see Percy, leaning halfway out of his bed, staring at Nico, worriedly, from across the room.

Nico cleared his throat, awkwardly, “Uh, yeah, I mean, why wouldn’t I be?”

Percy narrowed his eyes at him, suspiciously. “Well, I dunno. For one thing, you stormed out last night, not even saying goodbye to any of us and then you got back well past curfew, smelling like weed and I could practically hear you tossing and turning all night, dude. You look like a wreck.”

“Gee, thanks, Percy.” Nico said, flipping him off.

“I’m serious. If there’s something wrong, you can tell me.”

“I’m fine.”

Percy didn’t look convinced.

“The only thing that’s wrong is us being late for Weapons Class.” Said Nico, hurriedly trying to change the topic.

Percy broke eye contact with Nico in alarm, turning on his phone. “Oh shit, you’re right! We gotta go!”

 

The day went by quickly. He spent it staring at his shoes.

 

When Nico found out, it had been a week since he’d had that Skype fiasco with Hazel. He’d almost been able to get the whole thing out of his head. Almost.

He and his friends were gathered in their usual gathering place; he and Percy’s tiny dorm room, and Percy was blabbering on and on about the previous day’s combat class;

“You guys should have seen it!” He was telling Annabeth and Piper. “It was epic!”

Annabeth and Piper didn’t have combat class with the rest of them. Combat class was one of the only classes that girls and boys didn’t have together. Nico didn’t really understand why. Annabeth and Piper could easily hold their own against them.

“It’s because the school board’s sexist!” Piper had said once to Nico. Piper had lots of problems with the school board.

Now, Percy was in the middle of a story he’d been telling and retelling for the past day or so;

“—and then Nico totally judo flipped Jason out of the arena! It was so cool!”

“Can we please stop talking about this now?” Jason grumbled.

Nico smiled. It was true. He had, as Percy would put it, ‘totally whipped Jason’s ass’. Nico didn’t look like much. He was short and scrawny, but if he wanted to, he could seriously injure someone.

"Poor Jason." Piper murmered, playing with her boyfriend's hair.

Leo cleared his throat, interrupting Percy. “Are you guys ready for the exchange trip?”

The exchange trip… What exchange trip?

Oh god.

The exchange trip! Nico had completely forgotten about it! He’d filled out a form earlier on in the year and hadn’t thought about it at all since then.

“When do we leave?” He asked, panicked.

“In a few days.” Annabeth replied. “Did you forget?”

Nico nodded slowly.

“Are you packed?”

Nico shook his head sheepishly.

“Do you even know where were going?”

“…no…”

Annabeth shook her head at him in disapproval. Annabeth would never forget about anything this important. “We’re going to be attending a public school in Seattle.”

Nico felt his heart drop.

Public school.

Hazel went to public school.

Seattle.

That was where his father lived.

“Which public school?” he asked, trying not to sound too panicked.

“Lupa’s school for the gifted.”

Shit.

Fucking shit.

Nico was so fucked.

 

Hazel beamed at him through the laptop screen.

“Nico!” she said, happily. Then she saw his expression. “What’s going on?” she asked, worriedly.

Hazel always knew right away when something was upsetting Nico, whether it was by the smallest of movements, running a hand through his hair at a different angle than usual, and sometimes even just by the slightest change in his tone of voice.

“My school’s doing an exchange trip to Seattle. I’m going to be attending your school for the rest of the year.” Nico blurted out.

Hazel gaped at him, her mouth hanging open. “Whoa, slow down. Is this actually happening? Are you kidding? Is this a really cruel joke?”

“No.” Nico’s mouth was tight. His head was pounding like crazy. “This is real. This is happening.”

Hazel put a hand over her mouth, letting a squeal escape. “Oh my god, Nico! This is great! This is amazing!”

Nico gave her a tight smile.

“So you’re moving back in?”

Nico shook his head vigorously. “No. No way. My friends and I are going to get jobs when we get there and rent an apartment together.”

Then he realized how inconsiderate that was of him. His expression softened a little when he saw how dejected Hazel looked.

“I’m sorry, Hazel. I would love nothing more than to live with you again, but…”

“—but dad…I get it…”

Nico smiled gently at her in an attempt to cheer her up. “But at least we’ll get to see each other face to face finally. Maybe we’ll even have classes together.”

Hazel gave him a wide smile.

“You think so? That’d be great!” then she blew him a kiss. “Nico, I’m really happy about this. I’m really glad I’ll finally get to see you.”

Nico smiled. “Me too.”

And he meant it. It would be good to finally see Hazel in person. He had really missed her.

Now all he had to do was make sure he steered clear of his father.

 

And that was how Nico found himself and all his friends on an aeroplane from New York, heading to Seattle.

 

He was so fucked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update. It's been a long and busy month. I'll start updating more frequently I promise.  
> Welcome to the first chapter introducing Will Solace into the story.  
> I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. All rights go to Rick Riordan, but the story is mine.

Will Solace stared at himself in his full length mirror, begrudgingly.

His hair was a mess of blonde curls that refused to cooperate, his shirt was an orange button up that was hopelessly wrinkled, and he was wearing checkered shorts that his mom had bought for him, telling him he had to wear them.

Will didn’t like wearing shorts. They called attention to his long scrawny legs.You’d think he’d never hit puberty if it weren’t for the fact that he was so tall, towering above most people. His friend Lou always called him Andre the giant. 

All in all, he was a dorky kid with a mess of pale freckles. Not exactly how he wished to look, but he had learned a while back that there was no use trying to change something so uncontrollable.

With a sigh of defeat, he trudged downstairs into the kitchen.

“Hi Mom.” he greeted, bending down to kiss the cheek of a petite brunette women wearing light blue jeans and a green cardigan. “What are you doing?”

He and his mom didn’t look the least bit alike. She had dark features, much like a small asian women would. Will, on the other hand, had light features, much like the sun. The kids at school used to always tease him all through elementary school, calling him a “test tube baby”. Even when Will pointed out that he was adopted, the kids would continue to call him names and laugh at him on the playground. It got so bad that his parents ended up having to pull him out and put him into a new school.

His mom didn’t look up from her laptop screen. “Did you hear about those military children coming to your school?”

Will shrugged. “I think so.”

His mom shook her head in disapproval. “What is wrong with the school board? Do they honestly think it’s a good idea to subject hard working children to children who have been taught nothing but violence? What a disgrace.”

Will shrugged again. He hadn’t really thought about it. He saw nothing wrong with having these students come to their school. He didn’t say this to his mom however. That would only set her off.

Both his mom and his dad were raised very strictly, taught things by very narrow minded parents. As a result, they had very high standards set for the education system, church, and the government, so as you can imagine, they have extremely high expectations of Will.

After a few moments of Will awkwardly hovering over her shoulder, she finally turned away from her laptop. “You going out?”

“Yeah. To Cecil’s.”

“Okay. Be back for supper.”

“I will.”

 

“My man!” Cecil shouted, swinging the door open and clapping Will on the back.

Will jumped back, surprised. 

“You’re in an oddly good mood.” He studied Cecil suspiciously, trying to decided if he was on something or not.

Cecil laughed, making Will a little uneasy. “It’s the freakin weekend! What’s there not to be in a good mood about?”

Will looked toward the sun and smiled. “I guess you’re right.”

Cecil beckoned for Will to come in and Will obliged, walking into the ginormous mansion that was Cecil’s house.

It would be an understatement to call Cecil’s family rich. They had billions and billions of dollars. A bottomless pit of money that they could spend on whatever they wanted. Both his parents were fifty year old retired video game inventors always going on trips to Paris and London and god knows where else, leaving Cecil alone in a giant house. In short, Cecil threw a lot of parties.

Cecil led them out to his giant patio that overlooked a big, oval shaped swimming pool, motioning for Will to sit down on one of the chairs that were set up outside. Will did.

“I asked my mom if I could set up a giant waterslide in our backyard, but she said no.” Cecil wrinkled his nose. “I don’t see why not. I’m very responsible.”

Will snorted at that. Cecil shot him a glare.

Last year on a drunken whim, Cecil had started talking about this plan he had to turn his entire mansion into his own private water park. He had continued to elaborate on this plan over the course of a year, not even letting go of the idea when his parents continued to shoot it down.

“They’re never home, so why should they care what I do to the place?” he had grumbled to Will after the third or fourth time he had been shot down.

Now, he had gotten quiet all of a sudden, staring at the palm of his hands.

“So how’s Lou?” Cecil cleared his throat, trying to smoothly change the subject.

“She’s still mad.” Will gave him a sympathetic smile.

Cecil and Lou Ellen had a very complicated relationship. Because their families were both very rich, they were naturally close, so Lou and Cecil had been friends their entire lives. Nothing had gotten in the way of that until they turned thirteen, when both of them had discovered that they had feelings for each other. They knew it too, but neither of them had wanted to admit it to the other, so they both ended up confiding in Will who had somehow gotten himself tangled up in his bestfriend’s love lives. Ever since then, their trio had never been the same. Will always found himself having to be the mediator of the group. Part of him really wanted Cecil and Lou to just get together already and stop putting so much pressure on Will to always be there for the both of them, to never pick a side, but the other part of him didn’t want them to get together. He always felt guilty for thinking that, but he couldn’t help it. Part of him had this fear that Cecil and Lou would get together and would forget about Will. Will wouldn’t be able to stand that. Cecil and Lou had been his only friends since he switched schools. They had stuck by his side through thick and thin. He couldn’t imagine his life without them.

Everything had really gone downhill at Cecil’s last party. It was a Valentine’s day bash. His plan was to finally tell Lou Ellen that he had feelings for her. He had planned the perfect moment for months. He had gotten himself so psyched up that it was especially heartbreaking when she called to cancel last minute. Her parents were hosting this charity ball they wanted her to attend. When Will saw how upset Cecil was about this, he had quickly gotten ahold of Lou Ellen and told her about Cecil’s plan. Overjoyed, she blew off the ball to go surprise Cecil at the party, but by that time Cecil had gotten incredibly drunk on brandy. Lou walked in only to see him making out with Drew Tanaka. She had stormed out, Cecil right on her heels yelling how sorry he was. They hadn’t spoken since. Lou was furious and had no interest in seeing him. Cecil was miserable.

“Oh.” Cecil looked down at his shoes, sadly.

“She’ll get over it eventually.” Will tried to assure Cecil half heartedly. However, at this point, he wasn’t even sure of this himself.

“No, she won’t.” Cecil said, shaking his head. “But it’s okay. I deserve this.”

Will started to object, but Cecil held up his hand. “Can we just change the subject?”

Will nodded.

“So how about those military kids?” Cecil said, shifting gears back to his usual smiley self. “They sound pretty badass. Maybe one of them will teach me kung fu.”

Will laughed. “Something tells me they don’t learn kung fu at a prestigious military academy.”

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“So that’s the last of it.” Percy said, staring at the pile of boxes on the floor, triumphantly.

The six of them had just finished moving all their stuff to their new apartment, a convenient four bedroom space. It worked perfectly actually, with Percy and Annabeth sharing one room, Jason and Piper sharing another, and Nico and Leo getting their own individual rooms.

“I’m really excited about this.” Annabeth gushed wrapping her arms around Percy’s waist. “This is a great way for us to all spend time together.

“Yeah, if we don’t kill each other by the end of the school year.” Nico grumbled.

Piper glared at him playfully. “Well even if we hate each other by the end of this, it’s okay because we’re out of here soon enough.” 

Jason turned to Nico with a wicked grin on his face, holding his laptop in the air. “Oh and Nico, there’s a closet. I assume we’ll be setting your bed up in there.”

That made everyone laugh.

“Very funny.” Nico said, snatching the laptop out of Jason’s hands and hugging it to his chest.

“Are you Skyping with Hazel tonight?” asked Leo.

“No, but I’m meeting up with her tomorrow for lunch.”

Annabeth smiled wide. “I bet it’s exciting for you two to finally see each other in person after all this time of only seeing each other through a laptop screen.”

Nico gave a small smile in Annabeth’s direction. “Yeah, it will be.” and then he turned away from them to grin like an idiot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. Here's another chapter. I wasn't sure about the whole Cecil/Lou Ellen side plot, so if you have any thoughts, feel free to share them.

Hazel; 12:05 PM: Where are you?

Nico; 12:07 PM: I’m on my way. I’ll be there soon I promise.

Hazel; 12:07 PM: Okay, but don’t take too long. Dad will get suspicious.

Nico; 12:10 PM: I won’t.

Hazel; 12:12 PM: Okay.

Hazel; 12:15 PM: I can’t wait to see you! <3

 

It took a total of eighty-five minutes for Nico to make it to Tranquility, the cafe where he and Hazel would meet up. He hadn’t anticipated how lost he would get. He’d had to check the map on his phone five times before admitting defeat and asking a stranger for directions. 

Seattle was an incredibly busy city with people bustling around everywhere he looked. He kept getting pushed past and yelled at. Not exactly a warm welcome to a new environment. He had to get used to it at some point though given that he would be living in it for the next four months or so. Still...was the weather always this rainy? It couldn’t be.

The longer he walked, the more thinking he’d done and Nico didn’t like to think. Thinking led to doubt and doubt led to anxiety, but he couldn’t help it. He was incredibly nervous about seeing Hazel after all this time. 

What if he looked like as much of a mess as he felt? That morning he’d stood in front of his mirror for twenty minutes, trying to make his hair somewhat flat, so that it wouldn’t stick up in every direction. He used to have it down to his shoulders, so that it hung in front of his face, but he had to cut it when he joined the military academy. It was protocol.

He wanted to come up with the perfect outfit. One that made him look good, but not like he was trying too hard. In the end, he ended up wearing his cleanest pair of black jeans and a black tee shirt that wasn’t too wrinkled. He didn’t have much beyond black in his wardrobe. Made getting ready a whole time easier.

As he got closer to his destination, the anxiety started to diminish and was replaced with excitement. He imagined Hazel’s smiling face. He would finally get to talk to her in person. She wouldn’t be just an image on his laptop screen. She would be an actual human being within arms reach. Nico wasn’t a hugger, but for Hazel he would make an exception.

When he walked into the cafe, he spotted her right away. She was sitting at a small wooden table in the corner, tentatively sipping a mug of coffee. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans with a black shirt and a purple sweater. Her hair was a curly brown that turned in just below her chin, framing her round face nicely. Her eyes were wide, looking around the cafe, presumably for him.

When she saw him, she squealed loud enough for everybody in the cafe to hear. She leaped up out of her seat and almost knocked him over in a big bear hug. Nico hugged her back, trying to hide the grin that had began to take over his face.

“ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod” she mumbled, still not letting go of him.

Nico laughed. “Whoa, slow down there. You’re not making much sense.”

Hazel pulled back, putting her arms on his shoulder, studying his face. “You look so different from the last time I saw you in person. I like the haircut. I can finally see your face. There’s nowhere to hide now.”

Nico rolled his eyes as Hazel continued to study him. She had always objected to the long hair, telling him practically every day to cut it. 

When she finally let go of him, she said; 

“You know, I like seeing you a lot more in person than over a laptop. Look at how much you’ve grown.”

Nico scowled. “Don’t lie to me. I haven’t grown in the least.”

It was true. Nico had been short his whole life. When he turned twelve and was still significantly shorter than everybody else in his grade, his father had began to call it a birth defect. That was just one of the many reasons of why he hated his father.

Hazel giggled. “Okay, no you haven’t, but still… You look so grown up.” 

Nico followed her to the little table in the corner and sat down across from her.

“Do you want anything? Tea? Coffee?”

Nico shook his head. Just sitting across a table from her was enough for him. He wanted to make the most of this time the best that he could.

“How’s school?” he asked.

“Oh you know. School’s school. Challenging but rewarding.” She smiled warmly at him. “I think you’re going to really like it. It’s pretty academic, but I’m sure you can do it.”

Nico grimaced. “Depends how academic.”

Hazel looked at him, confused. “Do you not do academics at your school?”

“We do, but not as much as we should. The school’s mostly focused on self defense and stuff.” Nico explained.

“Like fighting?” 

Nico could tell Hazel was trying not to look worried. “Yeah... but don’t worry. I’ll stay out of trouble.”

Hazel nodded. “About that… You can’t pick fights here. It’s grounds for serious punishment. Sometimes even expulsion. They’re really strict about it.”

Nico looked down at his shoes. He and Hazel both knew what she was referring to.

“I’ll be careful.”

Hazel watched him carefully. “Do you promise?”

“...I do…”

Hazel smiled, comfortingly. “Things will be okay, Nico. It won’t turn out like last time.”

“Thanks, Hazel.” 

and he meant it, but there was still something that had been bothering him.

“What about dad?”

“I told him I was at the library. He doesn’t suspect a thing.”

Nico locked eyes with her. “I mean, for the next four months, how is he not going to find out that I’m attending your school?

Hazel reached across the table to put an arm on his shoulder. “Nico, don’t worry. Dad still thinks you’re in New York. I just have to get a ride to school and back with Frank which is what I normally do. Dad never does drop offs or pick ups. I’m also going to keep ‘Skyping’ with you every night, so he doesn’t get suspicious. He’s too busy working to notice anyway. Everything will be fine as long as we stick to the plan.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Which mean no fighting. Got it?”

Nico nodded vigorously, grateful to have Hazel in on this with him. Grateful to have Hazel period.

“And tomorrow’s your first day.” Hazel sang, happily. “You excited?”

“Sure.” was Nico’s sarcastic response.

Hazel laughed at that. “Oh Nico, high school’s a blast. You’ll see!”

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

“Yay or nay?” said Lou Ellen, holding up a pair of bright red shorts for Will to see.

She had come over to help Will sort through his clothes and help him decide what to donate. He had been telling her how disorganised he was feeling these days, so Lou had volunteered to help him clean up his room.

Will looked over at it and sighed in distaste. “I can’t get rid of that. My mom bought it for me.”

“But you hate it.”

“Well hates a strong word.”

Lou raised an eyebrow at him. “But you hate it.”

Will nodded in defeat.

“Then it’s a reject.” said Lou, throwing it into the reject pile.

“Lou!” Will shouted. “My mom’s going to kill me!”

Lou turned to Will, her hands on her hips. “Will Solace, you’re seventeen years old. Much too old for your parents to still be dressing you.”

“But Lou…” Will whined.

“No. I don’t want to hear it.” 

She turned to pick a pale purple tee shirt out of his dresser, holding it up for him to see. “Yay or nay?”

“Lou.”

“I kind of like it. It has a very feminine appeal to it.”

“Lou.”

“It would go well with this skirt I have.”

“Lou.”

“Actually I really like it. You don’t mind if I keep it, right?”

“Lou, we need to talk.”

Lou finally snapped her head up in irritation. “What?”

Will sighed, locking eyes with her. “We need to talk about Cecil.”

Lou pursed her lips, generally a sign she wasn’t happy. 

“No, we don’t.” she snapped.

“Yes, we do.”

“I don’t want to talk about Cecil.”

“Tough.”

They stared each other down for a moment, neither of them daring to make a move before Lou finally groaned and threw a pillow at Will’s head. Will ducked.

“You’re so annoying!”

Will smiled. He had won. “I love you.”

“Shut up.”

Will walked over to sit cross legged next to Lou. She turned to face him, reluctantly.

“He’s miserable.” 

Lou snorted. “He’s fine. He’s got enough money to buy himself a bunch of girls to screw over.”

“He doesn’t want a bunch of girls. He wants you.”

“He’s got Drew.”

“They are not the least bit together.”

“Tell Drew that. She’s the one that’s always hanging off his shoulder.”

“He hates Drew. He wants you.”

Lou turned away from Will, her arms crossed.

“I don’t care about him anymore.” she said.

Will could hear the hurt in her voice. 

“Don’t lie to me. I know you love him, and I know that he loves you more.” he said.

Lou slowly turned around. “and how would you know that?”

Will sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. “Because you’re both miserable. That’s why. He’s spending all his free time either asking me about you or planning this god damned water park he knows will never be a thing. Notice how there hasn’t been a single party since Valentine’s day. He used to have one practically every week, but he’s too sad to find the motivation to have another one. He’s the biggest party animal we know.” Will stopped and pointed at Lou. “And you. You are concentrating all your energy on household chores or weird projects. You hate both of those things. You’re just trying not to think about Cecil.”

Lou started to object, but Will interrupted her. “Lou, avoiding this won’t make how you feel about him go away. It’s been almost a month. Enough is enough.”

Will stopped to take a breath. They both sat next to each other in stunned silence for a few minutes. Finally, Lou turned to Will. “You’re right.”

Will turned to look her in the eye. “So you’ll talk to him?”

Lou shook her head. “No. No way.”

Will groaned, exasperated. “I give up!” he shouted, throwing a sock at her.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Nico and his friends sat in a circle in the middle of the apartment.

“I like this setup.” said Piper. “A lot more room than in Nico and Percy’s dorm.”

“Yeah and we’re not breaking any rules.” added Annabeth. “Jason, do you have the beer?”

Jason nodded, handing the beer out. “Sure thing.”

“We are kind of breaking some rules.” Nico mumbled, gesturing to the can of beer in Annabeth’s hand.

“Shut up.” Annabeth laughed, taking a swig of beer. “Any luck finding a job?”

“No. I was visiting Hazel.” Nico said, confused.

Annabeth put her beer down and narrowed her eyes at him. “And it didn’t occur to you to look for a job while you were out? Heck, you could’ve applied to work at that cafe.”

“I guess it didn’t occur to me.” grumbled Nico.

Annabeth stood up and stared down at them all. “Am I the only one here who’s actually found work?”

Ashamed mumbles escaped from the others.

“Unbelievable!” Annabeth said, throwing her hands up in the air. “We all need to find work or we’ll be living in boxes on the side of the road! How else are we going to pay for this apartment?”

The other five continued to stare down at their shoes.

Percy reached a hand up to gently pull Annabeth back down beside him. 

“We will all look tomorrow.” He narrowed his eyes at the group. “Won’t we, guys?”

Everybody nodded vigorously.

“Fine, but don’t expect me to work in retail like you.” Leo grumbled. Annabeth shot him a look.

“Okay.” Piper said, clapping her hands together in an attempt to change the subject. “Who’s excited for our first day tomorrow?”

More grumbles.

“Yay…” Piper said meekly.

“Hazel says high school’s a blast.” Nico added, trying to help Piper out.

“Well Hazel’s lying.” Annabeth said, glaring at him. 

“Hazel doesn’t lie!” Nico snapped, feeling defensive of Hazel.

“Everybody lies!”

“Not Hazel!”

\---

Hazel lied.

**Author's Note:**

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